Why do space suits matter for inventors or entrepreneurs wanting to take a product to market?

It’s not to make a fashion statement, help defend against rejection from potential investors/customers, or to attract attention. Rather, the process of designing, developing and making space suits matters because it helps teach us something about the way we make decisions.

In terms of decision theory, the process appears to epitomise the “maximising” approach to decision-making strategies – i.e. identifying an “optimal solution” for each of a number of problems before making a decision. Or, so it seems…